Instagram for E-commerceHandbook

Collected by AiGrow's Editorial Team

Ecommerce + Instagram Marketing 101

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower."

— Steve Jobs

Brought to you by AiGrow

Try to implement one of these ideas every day for the next few weeks. On the last day of your sprint, take stock andfigure out which tactics worked best to drive new sales.

You can use ecommerce marketing to promote your online store as a whole or to drive more sales for specific products.Below is an overview of a few practical ideas to try.

Every online store wants to increase tra�ic and conversions. But even a�er you’ve put together a basic strategy it can

still be challenging to decide on which marketing tactics you should try.

That’s why we put together an overview of e�ective marketing tactics and ecommerce tools, along with ideas to helpyou implement each approach. The ideas themselves run the gamut, from straightforward acquisition to generatingmore repeat purchases from the customer base you already have.

What is ecommerce marketing?Ecommerce marketing is the practice of using promotional tactics to drive tra�ic to your online store,converting that tra�ic into paying customers, and retaining those customers post-purchase.

A holistic ecommerce marketing strategy is made up of marketing tactics both on and o� your website. A soundmarketing strategy can help you build brand awareness, drive customer loyalty, and ultimately increase online sales.

Chapter 1:

17 E-commerce Marketing Ideas To Increase Online Sales

By Dan Wang

1. Upsell your products

For many businesses, upselling can be more e�ective than acquiring a net new customer. Sometimes your customersdon’t know that a premium product is available, or they may simply need more evidence to understand how anupgrade (or package) is a better fit for their needs.

Most of us have heard some variation of the famous, “Would you like to supersize your order?” It’s an example ofupselling, or the approach of selling a slightly more premium product than the one the customer was originallyconsidering.

For example, is one of your product models made of slightly better leather? Or does one carry a special componentthat’s handmade? Make sure to emphasize the di�erence and ask, in the right places, if the customer might want toupgrade.

There are two main considerations when using upselling to increase sales:

1. Make sure your upsells are related to the original product2. Be sensitive to the anticipated price range of your customers

Your product has to fit the customer’s original needs, and they may not be enthusiastic about a higher price point oncethey have an anchor price in mind. An anchor price is o�en the first number a customer sees, and it’s thenumber against which they compare other price points. The new product must be a discernibly better fit than theoriginal for it to be worth the additional cost.

Anyone who’s ever purchased a computer is familiar with the screen below. Once you’ve selected a particular model,companies will usually highlight upgrades for performance (upselling) or additional accessories (cross-selling) for youto consider.

2. Integrate InstagramWith over 500 million daily active users, Instagram is one of the fastest growing social apps around, connectingconsumers, influencers, and brands. Did you also know that 76% of small businesses don’t see the value, have the time,or are too intimidated by Instagram marketing? Instagram is still very untouched place by marketers and thecompetition is very low

If you take compelling photos, use hashtags strategically, and post at the right times then you’re well on your way to building a large Instagram following of people who are interested in your products. The key to masteringyour organic Instagram presence is engagement with your followers.

I would also recommend reading "50 Shades of Instagram Growth – eBook " to any shopify or Ecommercemerchant. Also, don't miss out on the last 6 pages of this Ebook as I go to an extended link and explain some of theInstagram hacks you can do on Instagram to grow your sales on Shopify.

What are some ways to engage with your audience on Instagram? You may try running contests or going behind-the-scenes to showcase your product development process. You can also pay to play on Instagram. For Ecommercemarketing,  adding products to your Instagram posts and stories  gives your followers a direct path topurchase, which is key for increasing your online sales. Additionally reading this article gives you a tonne of ideas onhow to generate sales on Shopify through Instagram.

Check out this example to see how easy it is to make a shoppable Instagram experience:

3. Reduce abandoned cartsHarsh truth: You’re losing money every time a visitor abandons their cart without purchasing.This phenomenon is well-studied. Visitors add items to their carts, but abandon their carts during the checkoutprocess. According to the Baymard Institute, 69.23% of shopping carts are abandoned.

It’s worth directly addressing as many hesitations as you can because some shoppers who abandoned their carts couldhave been reminded to complete their purchase. Perhaps they could have been persuaded with a discount or freeshipping, for example.

One simple and e�ective ecommerce marketing idea to reduce the frequency of abandoned carts is an emailrecovery campaign, which can convince your visitors to make a return visit and complete their original purchase.

The folks at use quirky subject lines and emails with additional product suggestions to try to get customers toreturn to their carts.

LUSH

Cra� an email that entices your visitors to return to their carts by reminding them of what they considered purchasingin the first place, and why.

4. Launch a Facebook storeAlthough Facebook has undergone a number of changes, it remains a viable platform for social media and ecommercemarketing.

It’s fairly straightforward to start making sales through your Facebook store. Better yet, your Facebook store canintegrate directly with your Shopify store so you don’t have to keep a separate inventory.

For inspiration, have a look at the Facebook store for Fiercely by Valery Brennan.

5. Capture more email subscribers

Dollar for dollar, email marketing is one of the most e�ective channels at your disposal for making sales and generatingrepeat customers. Roughly 17% of digital marketing spend happens in email, but it contributes 24% of revenue,according to a 2015 study by Forrester Research.

There are too many tweets and Facebook posts for us to keep up with, and email can o�er a more intimate interaction.People are still more protective of messages sent to their personal inboxes versus their social feeds. Plus, email givesyou the space to say things that can’t fit into a social media post.

To get started with email marketing, actively promote your newsletter, blog and any other email capture e�orts to getas many subscribers as you can. Take a look at Huckberry, which makes signing up for its email list the central focuswhen you first visit their site.

6. Improve your email campaignsIt’s not enough to simply capture a bunch of email addresses. You then need to send regular, valuable emails for thechannel to be an e�ective ecommerce marketing activity.

There are many occasions that are perfect for sending emails that your subscribers will actually appreciate:

 Send a welcome email as soon as a customer makes a purchase (you can also do the same onInstagram Provide exclusive promo codes and free gi�s. Send regular newsletters to alert subscribers of new discount o�ers, product tips, and, when appropriate,company news. Share relevant content to help customers get the most out of their recently purchased items. Run a BOGO campaign in time for the holidays to promote self-gi�ing during the season, too. Thank your highest-value customers. Send a personal note expressing your appreciation for theirbusiness. Solicit feedback. If someone visits your site but doesn’t make a purchase, ask about their experience and howyou can improve it.

Take a look at this simple email from Uncommon Goods. For Father’s Day, they sent a last-minute email to remindsubscribers of the occasion, and to provide a service for the procrastinators on their list. The subject read, “The Gi� thatWill Save Father’s Day.”

If your store is poorly designed, then you’re losing customers. But what exactly does a poorly designed store look like?

Besides appearing untrustworthy, the store could be su�ering from some combination of the following: lacking aclear value proposition, hard-to-read font, or confusing navigation.

Even when you’ve improved the dimensions above, you could still be making a few design mistakes. Are you properlysegmenting your products or are you putting too many products on a single page? Have you figured out the rightbalance between text and visuals? These are just a few of the many things that you should consider. If your theme isn’tconverting well, consider some of the other great themes available on Shopify.

There are many examples of beautiful ecommerce websites, but consider DODOcase in particular.Take a look especially at how clearly products are segmented.

7. Send wishlist reminder emailsOne final type of email to add to your list of ecommerce marketing ideas: the wishlist reminder email. The wishlistreminder email is closely related to the abandoned cart email. Both are designed to convince shoppers to take the finalstep in purchasing the products they have shown intent to buy.

Has it been a while since someone checked in on their wishlist? Have an item on sale that’s been put on a lot ofwishlists? Is it selling out? Send out an email to let your customers know.

It may just be the trigger they need to finally purchase the item. ModCloth alerts shoppers when products are nearlyout of stock. This motivates shoppers and helps minimize regret—no one wants to accidentally miss out on a productthey’ve been eyeing.

8. Make it easy for your customers to get what they want

9. Engage online store visitors with live chat

Many live chat tools let you target browsers on certain pages, a�er they’ve been on your site for a certain length of time,or even a�er they’ve arrived on your site through an email newsletter. Live chat also enables you to have directconversations with your customers so you can answer and address customer concerns right while they’re planning tobuy.

Luxy Hair uses live chat to engage prospects and inform current customers of their order status, without having tocontact their support team over email.

In footwear and apparel especially, there are times when certain size or color variants are temporarily out of stock.KEEN, which sells hiking shoes, gives shoppers the option to receive an email when the product of their choice isavailable again.

If you have the ability to expand your product line, then you should evaluate market demand and see if it’s worth thecost. You can do that through a variety of approaches: keyword research, geographic validation, social media trends,etc. One more creative way to test out your market? Pre-sell items to see how many people place orders.

There are other high-impact ways to engage with site visitors and customers outside of email. For example, you coulduse live chat to engage with shoppers on your site.

10. Anticipate future sales

If you have the ability to expand your product line, then you should evaluate market demand and see if it’s worth thecost. You can do that through a variety of approaches: keyword research, geographic validation, social media trends,etc. One more creative way to test out your market? Pre-sell items to see how many people place orders.

One unlikely brand that has used content marketing to increase online sales is River Pools and Spas. Theircompany blog has earned them kudos from New York Times, but they don’t just stick to blogging. In time forthe 2018 summer season, they have a downloadable guide featured on their homepage to help customers buy the rightfiberglass pool as well.

12. Embrace personalizationPersonalization is another e�ective marketing tactic to drive online sales. Using behavioral data, personalizedexperiences are served to the visitor, according to their past actions and preferences.

According to BCG, personalization can li� sales as much as 10%, but the opportunity is greater than that. Only15% of companies are using the technology to its fullest extent.

You can also account for location in personalization to create an experience catered to where your customers are in theworld. Someone in southern California may be looking for bathing suits in October, while your Maine customersprobably need coats, for example.

11. Start a content marketing programEvery ecommerce store should consider blogging regularly to connect with customers and to rank better insearch engines. If you’re already creating content, consider actively featuring your blog on your online store.

Don’t forget, there are more ways to take advantage of content marketing than simply blogging:

  Start a podcast to feature your expertise or build a stronger community

Guest post on other websites and blogs to build awareness and generate backlinks, which also help with SEO

 Create long-form content and guides to help customers use your products more e�ectively

Alloy Apparel shows a “what’s popular” carousel of products for online shoppers, but personalizes it with trendingitems local to the visitor.

According to Salesforce, 54% of consumers trust information from online reviews and recommendations fromtheir peers, compared to the 20% who trust the brand itself.

UGC can take many forms. Technically, even product reviews are UGC. One of the most e�ective types of UGC is picturesof customers actually using your products. Pepper, a store that sells bras, features lots of pictures of happy customersin their products.

13. Leverage user-generated contentUser-generated content (UGC) is a great way to generate social proof. When prospective customers see thatpeople just like them are regularly purchasing your products, they’ll feel more confident in doing the same.

14. Think localBrick-and-mortar businesses aren’t the only ones who can jump on the local movement. Online retailers can also take alocal approach to their ecommerce marketing tactics to increase online sales.

Once you’ve conducted your research to identify challenges and opportunities, you can develop hypotheses and teststo see which approaches generate the most sales. 

To figure out what local means for you, here are a few ways you can look at it:

 Identify where you have large concentrations of customers and run a promotion for that location. Look at whichproducts those customers are buying and other spending behavior indicators, and consider local events orseasons to appropriately time a promotion. If you have a warehouse or multiple warehouses, consider a promotion with free, discounted, or expeditedshipping to customers in the vicinity. This’ll be easier for your operations team to execute and also help youpromote sales in a cost-e�ective manner.

15. Optimize your product pagesConversion rate optimization (CRO) is the practice of optimizing your website for on-site conversions andincreased sales. Practicing CRO helps you identify problem areas on your site.

Where are you losing sales? Who’s dropping o� and why? What can you do to capture those missed opportunities? Thisprocess is done through both qualitative and quantitative research, so you get a holistic and unbiased view of howconversion-oriented your site is.

Perhaps you have a bigger add to cart button on all mobile product pages, making it easier for the visitor to add to cartwithout zooming in, for example. You might also present your images in a di�erent format, making it faster for mobilevisitors to load product photos and easier to zoom in.

By 2021, more than half of all online shopping is expected to happen on mobile devices,according to Statista. Optimizing your store for mobile means more than having aresponsive design. It means you’re designing your site with mobile visitors in mind fromstart to �nish.

16. Optimize for mobile

sells body scrubs and skincare products. When a mobile visitor lands on a product page and scrollsdown, the “add to cart” button appears at the bottom. This saves the visitor from having to scroll all the way back up,likely losing their spot on the page.

Frank Body

17. Reward your loyal customers

Focusing on customer retention is a cost-e�ective way to increase online sales. Return customers account for 22% of aretailer’s revenue, while making up just 11% of the total customer base, according to Stitch Labs. They also spend

You choose how to reward customers, how frequently and for what actions. For instance, you might have a point-basedprogram, which has its own point-based currency that can be redeemed for discounts, free shipping or free gi�s.

Your loyalty program doesn’t need to be as robust and you can implement it easily with a Shopify app.

One way to reward loyal customers and big spenders is through a customer loyalty program. There are manyways both your customers and you can benefit from a loyalty program. They give customers extra incentive to make apurchase and they keep your brand top-of-mind through automated reminders.

Outdoor brand REI has a robust customer loyalty program. Members pay a one-time fee ($20) to join the program, andthey receive access to exclusive online (and in-store) sales and events. They also receive coupon codes and a portion ofwhat they spend over the course of a year back in store dividends.

Move forward with your own online storeNow you have a sizeable list of tactics and apps to help you generate more tra�ic and increase online sales.

Here’s what you need to integrate your store according to Shopify:

Chapter 2: Selling on Shopify throughInstagram

You need to have the Facebook channel with an approved Facebook Shop.You need to use the Online Store sales channel.You need to be on the Basic Shopify plan or higher.You need a business profile on Instagram.The Instagram app that you are using needs to be the latest version available in your country.

How to Get Sales on Shopify: Advertise in Your Instagram Bio

 what you do any credentials/awards a strong call-to-action (“get your discount through the link in the bio!”)

For less than the price of a Starbucks co�ee a day, you can put your store in front of your target demographic.

You can target your ads based on (from Instagram):

Your bio is the only part of your Instagram profile where you can place a clickable link. As a business, it then makessense that you should place a link to your store in your bio.

A�er linking to your store, your bio should consist of any other necessary information people need to know about yourbusiness. A simple way to do this is to include:

For a dedicated platform for explaining how to best optimize your Instagram profile, Start using AiGrow.

How to Get Sales on Shopify: Instagram Advertising

It’s not free, but it might as well be.

 Location: target people based in specific locations like states, provinces, cities or countries. Demographics: narrow your audience based on information like age, gender and languages. Interests: reach people based on interests like apps they use, ads they click and accounts they follow. Behaviors: define your audience by activities they do on and o� of Instagram and Facebook. Custom Audiences: run ads to customers you already know based on their email addresses or phone numbers. Lookalike Audiences: find new people who are similar to your existing customers. Automated Targeting: we help you quickly create an audience who might be interested in your business using avariety of signals including location, demographics and interests.

You can also look at Instagram advertising as helping you to refine your non-paid targeting. For example, if you are abusiness selling pet food bowls and you notice that your paid campaign targeting dog owners in Los Angeles isperforming substantially better than your other campaigns, you can take that information and use it to optimize yourhashtags.

You can do this manually by tagging your content with these optimized hashtags and engaging with people using thesehashtags, or you can use a smart automation tool like AiGrow which allows you to auto Like, comment, follow, and DMpeople based on hashag-use, location, and competitor connection. When you know the kind of people who are likely tobuy from your business, you can tell the automation engine to engage with those kinds of people as expressed throughhashtags.

Here’s how you would target dog owners in Los Angeles using AiGrow:

In the meantime, to save time and produce even more results for your Shopify business,consider using a smart Instagram automation tool like AiGrow.

We’re targeting Instagram users who are using such hashtags as #dogsofinstagram and #dogsitting, who are located inLos Angeles and surrounding areas, and who are following such Instagram users as @dogs.lovers, @corginstagrams,and @lacorgi.

Engaging with people who you know belong to your target audience (as indicated by the hashtags/geotags they use) isone of the most e�ective ways to attract people to your Instagram channel who are likely to convert to payingcustomers.

Use any of the four tactics above to drive more tra�ic to your online store and generate more sales for your Shopifybusiness.

Chapter3:

That puts the social network platform at the forefront of social media marketing…  

But, you might have heard about the Instagram account update…

There’s been a huge uproar among social media marketing experts, with Instagram modifying its algorithm toshow the best posts first and also restricting visibility.

As per Instagram co-founder and CEO, Kevin Systrom,

4 Easy Ways to Generate eCommerce Sales From Instagram

By Neil Patel

Social network giant Instagram recently announced that they had grown to 500 million monthly active users. Out ofthese, 300 million users log onto the platform every day and are active Instagram followers.

This is especially notable, given that 68% of Instagram followers engage regularly with brands (compared with 32% ofusers on other social networks like Facebook).

TrackMaven research found that the engagement ratio (interactions per post, per 1,000 followers) on Instagram is 8times greater, on average, than on any other social media marketing platform.

It’s also one of the few social network platforms that’s still not saturated with too many marketers.

On average, people miss about 70 percent of the posts in their Instagram pro�le feeds.

So, the algorithm hopes to ensure that Instagram followers see the best 30% of their content, when they log in.

This could have various implications for media marketing experts (both positive and negative). But, TrackMaven sumsup the situation aptly – brands will need to create content worthy of paid promotion, to ensure that they get goodengagement.

So, don’t ignore paid media marketing. As social network platforms grow, they are bound to weed out poorcontent.

Feel free to check out one of the best products designed for this.

It’s worth considering, though, that Instagram can bring a great ROI for your business, because users are in a buyingmindset. The average value of an order from Instagram is $65. If you’ve got more than 1000 followers on youraccount, you could earn £4,160 a year, by promoting brands.

If you’re looking to generate eCommerce sales from Instagram, then here are 4 ways to do so.

1. Batch your core Instagram marketing efforts, automate andrepeat…

Want a productivity hack to make your Instagram social media marketing more e�icient?

Introducing…

Batching.

It calls for doing as much of a task as you can do in one sitting…rather than executing it in sporadic intervals. Itimproves your productivity by eliminating transition time and keeping you focused on the task at hand.

Fortunately, there are a plethora of media marketing automation and social media tools to help you execute youreveryday content marketing activities.

On your Instagram account, here are the tasks that you can batch:

1. Creating content for your followers: It’s important to ensure that your content is high-quality, because it is thecurrency for getting engagement with your target audience on Instagram. Get to work, with Canva/Pablo and createcontent around hashtags relevant to your products.

The recommended image size for Instagram photos is 1080 x 1080 pixels. And, your captions can be 2,200characters long, including your Instagram handle (although they are cut o� in the user feed a�er three lines of text).

Social network users crave authenticity and like brands to be a part of the conversation. But, if you create content fromscratch, everyday, to share on your Instagram account, it can be a huge time suck.

Further, you’ll find it challenging to simultaneously respond to comments on your Instagram photos and buildrelationships with other influencers in your niche.

Obviously, if you find that there’s anything important and you want to share with your Instagram followers on specialoccasions, then you can readjust your schedule.

Here’s a free template, by HubSpot, to create your own Instagram content calendar, adding videos andInstagram photos.

Chris Jones created 12 months of Instagram content, in advance, with appealing photos. Here’s his guide on how hedid it for free, in just one a�ernoon, without picking up the camera or spending money.

You could also consider outsourcing it to a freelancer, on marketplaces like Upwork.

2. Scheduling a month’s worth of content: Why waste time logging into your Instagram account every couple of hours?You can pre-load your content, in advance, by using a media marketing tool like AiGrow. It will ensure that youremember to fill your Instagram profile with high-quality and relevant updates at regular periods to keep your targetaudience hooked.

3. Allocate time to engage with followers – Posting appealing content isn’t enough. It’s a social platform and usergenerated content is important. So, you need to respond to comments by your Instagram followers on your socialfeeds.

But, don’t fall for keeping tabs on your Instagram account every few minutes and waiting for new notifications to popup. Your business won’t have tangible results to show, a�er such random check-ins.

Instead, I recommend that you build a system to respond to your audience user generated content and comments, in astrict time limit, every day.

Chris Jones recommendsalternating between the

: manicuredproduct photo, random coolphoto, candid product photo (oraction shot), private photo andmeme.

following product photocategories

If, on the other hand, your eCommerce store receives a huge volume of sales…then you should consider integratingcustomer service with your social media marketing to please your target audience. And, designate a couple ofdedicated sta� members for handling the support requests on the social channel.

If you want to automate your activities on Instagram, try AiGrow for FREE!

2. Make it effortless for your followers to BUY fromyour business

Alright…now you’re sharing good content and gettinggreat engagement and user generated content on yourInstagram account. Congratulations on getting attentionfrom your target audience by filling their feed withvalue-adding posts.

But, how are your social media marketing e�ortsa�ecting your business?

More Instagram followers are good to have.Higher engagement means better brand visibility.But. ultimately….

All of these are vanity metrics. To create asustainable business, you’ll need tosmooth your funnel and translateyour media marketing activities intosales. .

Carefully gauge the user journey from your Instagram profile to the checkout process…

 Is it possible to reduce the number of steps before conversion? Can you earn trust and remove the objections of your target audience by tweaking your strategy?

If you’ve only got one product to o�er, then you can directly link to it from your Instagram profile link.FoundrMag.com does this on their Instagram account and also works hard to persuade their prospects as towhy they must click on the link in their bio.

I recommend that you create a customized landing page (optimized for mobile, since Instagram tra�ic will mostlybe coming from mobile phones) for this profile link. FounderMag managed to scale their email list to 100ksubscribers, mainly relying on Instagram.

Here’s the custom URL in their Instagramaccount. You can create a similar link, using atool like Pretty Link.

If you don’t want to build an email list, then you can make the .

path towards your eCommerce checkouteasier

It serves as a gentle reminder to their audience to navigate to their homepage and follow the link to their eCommercestore. 

This is a good way of getting eCommerce sales from Instagram.

For instance, Lilly Pulitzer leverages Instagram’slocation feature in the post below. 

Too many direct product photos in your feed can appear too salesy and ruin your integrity when it comes to your socialmedia marketing strategy…But, not if you can get creative!

In the example below, Asos showcases its products in an appealing way and triggers a huge demand for them. italso inspires a lot of user generated content in the replies.

Here’s another artistic endeavor, by Converse. The lace art manages to promote the product in an impressive mannermaking it appealing to their target audience.

Presenting the lifestyle and culture around your products is another creative way to market them. Nike is known forposting content that increases positive associations with their brand –  a great media marketing strategy.

Finally, you can also use third-party tools, like Like2Buy, to make your Instagram feed shoppable. Nordstrom relieson Like2Buy to translate all of their Instagram photos into related product pages on their website.

And, with the link, they can track their sales tra�ic, while maintaining their brand scent on the eCommerce landingpage. You can further customize your product gallery and even leverage retargeting tools for sending your productupdates to re-engage your prospects.

3. Boost your Instagram sales withcontests and user-generated contentWhile trying to sell directly and garner eCommerce sales from Instagram might work, it’s important to make yourfollowers feel special and focus on creating an engaged community with plenty of user generated content. The strengthof the social platform is in generating more prospects for you at the top of the funnel, by creating an artistic andinspiring feed for your target audience.

In #1, I forgot to mention 3 genuine types of content that breed trust and get huge engagement on Instagram.

1. Behind the scenes photos of your products – Go look at the Instagram feed of Megan of Peppermintpine. Sheregularly shares personal and private photos that show the progress of her knitwear/crochet products. As a follower,you feel emotionally connected to have a peek backstage.

Emily Weiss teased her audience for a month, by showing behind-the-scenes private photos and she grew the GlossierInstagram account following to 15,000. The audience didn’t even know what Glossier was, before her announcement.

Remember how I shared the Glossier contentmarketing story a while ago?  

It also makes your target audience feel close to your brand, if you share exclusive footage and photos from liveevents. Don’t forget to geotag your exclusive inside access photos from such events. It’s an underused Instagramsocial media tool (only 5% of posts have it), but posts with a geotag have been found to get 79% moreengagement.

Then post pics of your customers showing o� your products. User generated content leads to positive sentiment andgives people a taste of how your products look when they wear it.

2. Post content created by your users – Want to cultivate an approachable, down to earth and human brand image?

Also, in an Iconosquare study, 65% of customers said that they would be honored if a brand liked their post. You’ll makethem ecstatic by featuring them. Perhaps, you can announce that you will feature your customers in your profiledescription, like bikiniluxe.

You can even pull out hashtags related to your product and display them on their product page, using a tool likeInstafeed.

Frank Body heavily relies on the value of adding usergenerated content in their feed. And, they have grownto $20 million in sales in a year (mainly relying onInstagram).

3. Run a contest and give away exclusive coupons – 41% ofInstagrammers follow a brand purely for perks and giveaways.Further, an Iconosquare study found that 70% of Instagram usershad entered a photo contest or competition at some point.

Simply put, Instagram is a great place for your business to treatyour customers well and li� your conversions.

Announce your discounts visually, withappealing graphics and clear text overlays.

Buried Diamond uses their Instagram profile to announce their new product release times and sales. The online shop isowned by Martha Porter and she likes to give her followers a taste of her creativity, before all others. And, the web siteshop sells out quickly, when she posts popular items.

4. Consumers will trust an individual’s recommendation over yours…So, recruit thosein�uential folks

I’ve generated $332,640 in 3 Months from Instagram, by relying on Instagram celebrities. Uwheelsgenerated over $1 million in sales, following the same strategy.

FoundrMag also recruited influencers and did Share for Shares with them to catapult to half a million followersin a year.

Depending on the influencer’s following size, you can request sponsored posts at $20 or more. You can get incredibleengagement from such shout-outs.

You can even conduct an “Instagram flash mob,” like Madmen did. They coordinated with their 500 employees, fashionbloggers and the editors of Marie Claire and Elle, to launch a campaign getting users to think about denim in theireveryday lives.

The result of #denimmadewell and #flashtagram?

In total, the campaign created 1,600 posts, generated 160,000 likes and saw 8.5 million total impressions.

ConclusionInstagram does not require you to have a huge budget to generate sales. And, its audience likes to shop. So, if you’re aneCommerce website owner, I would encourage you to implement one of the above 4 tactics, right away.

Don’t forget to track your performance. In about 30 days, you should have data on the sales that you generated. Then,come back to this post and let me know how the strategy worked out for your business.

Is there any other way you leverage Instagram to generate sales for your eCommercebusiness other than AiGrow?

This section is a must-read for brands that showcase Instagram or user-generated content (UGC) in their online stores. Ifyou use Instagram to power …

 Shoppable feeds on your storefront

 Content on product pages

Earlier this year, Facebook announced a number of changes to how users and apps can access Instagram content.

Some of those changes have already been implemented, but on Dec. 11, 2018, the remaining updates will gointo full effect. Unfortunately, many ecommerce brands are unprepared.

This is in no way due to Instagram’s policies or communication; instead, it’s more a matter of how rapidly socialcommerce is evolving alongside the usual demands of running a business.

Facebook’s new rules require a Business Account to use UGC onsite as well as to access the fullbreadth of Instagram’s data.

If you don’t switch to a Business Account and you don’t use an Instagram Graph API approved app,your UGC feeds will stop updating in the middle of the 2018 holiday shopping season. However, if you only showcaseInstagram content, your feeds will continue to work and update as expected since Instagram will not be deprecatingthis functionality until early 2020. But — tick tock — 2019 is almost here, and this time frame is going to run out fasterthan you think.

Here’s why …

Instagram Business Accounts & EcommerceInstagram has never been bigger than it is right now. Especially for ecommerce. Instagram is one of the few socialplatforms that loves products and branded content.

Chapter 4:

Instagram Ecommerce, Apps & Business Accounts: Are YouReady for the Coming Changes? (Here’s How to Make Sure)

By: Michael Chachula

 Onsite Instagram-display feeds

 UGC from #hashtags

Because of how well shoppable Instagram and UGC feeds work to drive sales onsite, apps powered by Instagram aremore popular than ever, too.

Previously, apps built on the Instagram Platform API allowed both business and non-business Instagramaccounts to access content and data. On Dec. 11, 2018, most of that old API will be deprecated and apps will havetransitioned to the new Instagram Graph API:

Excerpt from Facebook’s “Instagram Graph API Launches andInstagram API Platform Deprecation”To continue showcasing UGC on your website and have the ability to access Instagram account engagement, you mustconvert to a Business Account because apps built on the new Instagram Graph API require an Instagram BusinessAccount in order for them to function.

The crux of the matter is that Facebook is limiting the kind of data that third-party apps can access on non-businessusers.

Switching to a Business Account is the only way you as a marketer or brand will be able to access the content andinsights you need going forward. (For more documentation, see  Facebook’s “Instagram Graph API:Getting Started”.)

If you’re wondering, “Why haven’t I noticed any of this yet?” great question. Although many of the above functions wereremoved from the Instagram API in April through August, they allowed some of them to stay active … but only until Dec.11, 2018.

To keep everything running smoothly, you need to do the following as soon as possible:

▢  Convert your Instagram profile to an Instagram Business Account

▢  Make sure your store is using an Instagram and UGC app that is approved by Facebook on the Instagram Graph API

But won’t an Instagram Business Account hurt reach and engagement?

Many brands haven’t made the switch due to the wide-spread rumor that converting your account negatively impactsreach and reduces user interactions.

These rumors couldn’t be further from the truth, and there has been no proof or correlations to suggest BusinessAccounts see fewer interactions. In fact, back in June, Instagram cleared the air in a statement to TechCrunch:

“Instagram doesn’t give extra feed presence to personal accounts or business accounts, so switching won’t help yourreach.”

Put more positively, Jake Kassan — co-founder of MVMT — told Shopify Plus’ editorial sta�:

MVMT’s Shopping on Instagram posts

“We used a mix of organic and paid strategies to scale MVMT to our $100 millionacquisition earlier this year and a lot of that was done through Instagram. “It also lets our social and marketing teams leverage MVMT’s influencer collaborationsand UGC onsite so the community around MVMT expands as we move into newchannels.”

At Foursixty, we work with over 3,000 brands and a�er speaking to hundreds of store owners, converting to abusiness profile is chalk full of benefits.

MVMT’s onsite shoppable Instagram feed

Sampling of the brands using Foursixty

Here are six reasons why you should make the switch:

That isn’t a plug for my company. Rather, it’s just one of many data points that prove how incredibly valuable taking theInstagram experience onsite can be.

For instance, Frankies Bikinis drives 19% of orders and 23% of total revenue through their shoppable Instagramapp.

1. Your Instagram content (for now) and UGC FeedsWon’t Stop Over the HolidaysIf you feature UGC on your website, the last headache you need is to find that your galleries are no longer updating.

If you currently feature Instagram content in your site and your Instagram account is not an Instagram business accountor you're not using an approved Instagram Graph API app, you only have until early 2020 to continue using thisfunctionality without interruption. So, consider transitioning to an Instagram business account now to get ahead of thegame.

Brand’s using Foursixty regularly see 8-10X the engagement on Shoppable Instagram feeds onsite over the holidayseason. That’s a revenue source nobody wants to miss out on.

In the case of Pura Vida Bracelets — who grew 1,447% over the past five years, 210% YoY from 2017 to 2018, andhave amassed over 110,000 micro-influencers on Instagram — Foursixty’s app generates ~17% of theironline revenue.

Pura Vida Bracelets shoppable Instagram gallery

By converting your Instagram account to a Business Account, and making sure the third-party apps you use areapproved, you can rest assured that your social shopping galleries will be fully powered to help you crush the holidayseason … and forevermore a�er that.

During the holidays, the option to buy seamlessly is one of the best things you can provide.

2. You Can Access Instagram’s Native ShoppingFeaturesRecently, Instagram introduced their native shopping feature to more businesses through product tagging within posts.They also unveiled a similar feature for Stories:

Hawkers Shoppable Instagram posts

Though you have to be approved by Instagram to use the shopping tag feature, you must be — wait for it — a BusinessAccount.

Instagram is still primarily used for discovering products and brands; however, giving your followers a direct path topurchase is a great feature. Shoppable posts provide users the ability to learn more in the moment and tees them up tobuy whenever they want.

Spell & The Gypsy: Instagram and onsite

3. You Won’t Be Able to Pull UGC from HashtagsAnymoreYou know it better than anyone — hashtags have been notoriously over-used and abused for years.

As part of Instagram’s changes, you’ll no longer be able to draw UGC from #hashtags. @tags and@mentions are the new source.

4. Business Accounts Get Tons of InstagramAnalytics

While this might sounds worrisome, it’s actually a good thing because collecting UGC from @tags and @mentions willactually provide you with better content, a closer relationship with your followers, and a better rights managementprocess.

I don’t mean to sound like a broken record, but the ability to source UGC from @tags and @mentions?

Yup — it’s only available to Instagram Business Accounts. This is a UGC game changer for anyone running influencer ormicro-influencer campaigns as well as content from customers.

Pura Vida Bracelets in�uencer campaign with Charly Jordan from left to right: Charly’spost, Pura Vida’s post, and Pura Vida’s onsite shoppable feed using Foursixty

Instagram’s analytics tab (e.g., Insights) is a great place to turn to for high-level information on things like Storiesmetrics, post reach, demographic information, profile visits, bio clicks, and more.

AiGrow gives you di�erent analytics from Insights, You may ask why?

Alternatively, Foursixty’s new Instagram Business Analytics lets you create custom dashboards (based on your owndata) to paint a beautiful and in-depth picture of the inner workings of your Instagram engagement.

Non-Business Account users don’t get access to any of that data.

Another great analytics tool is AiGrow.

AiGrow is a platform for Instagram growth unlike other platforms. You can schedule your post, Use engagement podsand grow your account to become big.

Here are some screenshots from AiGrow:

5. Third-Party Instagram Apps Need You to be aBusiness Account

One of them was AiGrow, AiGrow brings you real followers and real engagement

The API changes in April altered how third-party apps functioned overnight, and many apps stopped workingimmediately.

Unfortunately, some of them never recovered, leaving brands with Instagram feeds that no longer updated in theironline stores.

In order for any apps to provide you with a full suite of Instagram services moving forward, an Instagram BusinessAccount is 100% required.

Gymshark’s shoppable Instagram feed

Your fans, customers, and consumers who are just discovering you may use Instagram as their first touch-point withyour brand.

If you’re not giving them the most relevant details they need in the most o�icial capacity, you run the risk of not lookingas legitimate as you really are.

If you’re a business, get a Business Account. It just makes sense.

6. Instagram Business Accounts Give You theCredibility You Deserve

GOOD AMERICAN’s Instagram and onsite feedAs you can see, only good things will happen once you convert your account to an Instagram Business Account.

Give yourself peace of mind this holiday season and get it done.

For guidance, go to . Thereyou’ll find videos and step-by-step answers to questions like:

Instagram Business Tools Help Center

 How do I get approved for shopping on Instagram? How do I set up a business pro�le on Instagram?

 What insights are available for shopping posts?